Köln (Part II) and Stuttgart, Germany

So I worked a very laid-back pairing to San Francisco for the Labour Day long weekend. I ended up getting a pedicure and doing some shopping down there. It was productive, but restful if that makes any sense. ^__~"

The day after I left again for Frankfurt and was back in Köln in no time. It really was like I never left - JP had been away most of the weekend and everything was just as I'd left it. That evening we went over to Daniel's residence and we had an evening of wine, cheese and conversation.

Friday morning we took the train to Stuttgart to catch the end of the European Music Festival. JP was singing in the final concert and I was more than happy to come along, hear some good music and see some old friends again. I think my job has opened my eyes to seeing cities that I visit from a new perspective and I'd forgotten how beautiful Stuttgart is. My previous summers there were with the attitude of a working singer and aside from lots of shopping and some light sightseeing there is a lot the city that I had never seen. After JP's afternoon rehearsal (into which he made a noisy and fashionable late entrance) we walked around, had awesome Schnitzel and Käsespätzle for dinner and then met up with his friend Adrian for drinks. While we were walking on the street we ran into Robin E. and his reaction to seeing me totally made the trip worthwhile! He was so shocked, surprised and totally caught off guard. I had an unspeakable amount of beer that night @__@" Who ever thought that I would be a beer drinker?

Saturday morning was a bit ugly. JP had a migraine from hell and was a mess, so I went out and got stuff to make him... not messy. When he was finally ready to face the world we went out for cake and coffee. He had an afternoon rehearsal so I went shopping. It was a bit fruitless - mostly because I really didn't need anything. In the evening I sat in the lecture concert in the Beethovensaal. We had a quiet night in and watched P.S., I Love You on his laptop while eating junk food.

Sunday morning we were woken up early by clanging church bells. Since we were up anyways we went for a walk in the park behind the Schlossplatz, sat around and had ice cream. Another very lazy morning :) In the evening I went to hear the final concert of the music festival. I had an amazing seat, and ended up sitting next to the new head of the Bachakademie. The concert was fantastic; I had gotten a taste at the lecture concert but it was so much more powerful to hear the entire works. After the concert we went to the Hospitalhof for the final party. It was an odd feeling being there without the other members of FES, but I caught up a bit with some old friends: Theresa, Ulrich, Andreas, Tobias and of course it was like being with family to see the staff again, particularly Birgit, Tobias and Hollie.

JP took an earlier train back to Köln because he had to get to work, but I took the slower train that followed the Rhine river before making its way. The ride was very scenic and beautiful. There are lots of of castles dotting the hills along the length of the river.

My remaining days in Köln were very laid back. Lots of grocery shopping, cooking, wine-drinking and eventually we did make that apple pie :) While we were out shopping for pie ingredients JP found Federweizen (unfinished white wine) at the grocery store and bought a couple of bottles. It is SO amazingly good! This trip made me realize that while I may not be amazing at it, I really do enjoy cooking when I have the time, resources and a good space to work in. JP has an awesome little kitchen and it was definitely a plus to have several grocery stores just steps away when I needed something.

I had a great trip - even if it was interrupted by "layovers" in Toronto and San Fran, hehe. I have a new-found respect for beer, and I totally want a set of electric salt and pepper mills now and a J.A. Henkels paring knife.

As I am writing this blog entry I am eating homemade Japanese curry, enjoying a glass of white Zinfandel and listening to the new album from New Kids on the Block. It's amazing to think that I will be seeing them live on Friday - it brings back memories of the "Magic Summer" back in 1990. Whoever thought it.

And I met Andreas Scholl this summer. Truly I am very happy.

Köln, Germany - Part I

I'm writing this from Toronto - and if you're wondering why this entry is called "Part I" it's because my vacation isn't done yet, even though I'm at home. Keep reading . . .

So I left for Germany about a week ago. Everything went smoothly - got on my flight to Frankfurt, had plenty of time to catch my train up Köln and even managed to find JP's flat even though I only had a rough idea of where it was in my head. Then we went to the laundrymat (so that I would have bedsheets and clean towels >__<"), had lunch at a little Italian place and went grocery shopping. We ran into Chelsey on the street while she was on her way to do her own laundry. (And spotted Thomas Heyer trying to avoid us... awkward... and funny.) I totally love his flat - it's the perfect amount of space for one person and the location is fabulous.

Saturday morning I awoked to "Patty, what would you like for breakfast? I'll make you whatever you want." Hehehehe... My first request for pancakes was denied because JP isn't a fan of them, so we had french toast and breakfast sausages instead. Yummy! That evening JP had a concert so I went along to hear him.

Sunday morning we both slept in like lazy butts. In the afternoon we met up with a couple of JP's friends and had a few beers at a Brauhaus. I'm really not a fan of beer, but I'm starting to get used to it and starting to appreciate them. We went for gelato afterwards and then walked along the river to get home.

Monday morning JP had to work - so I hit the streets and went shopping! For more groceries. LOL. (Actually, I was totally jetlagged and was up at 6am.) JP had offhandedly said that he loved wonton soup but hadn't had it in forever so I went out and picked up the ingredients to make wontons. There's a small Asian supermarket near his flat that I went to hoping to find wonton wrappers - but it was the tiniest, dingiest, smelliest place ever! I walked in and walked back out again. Gross! Left with the small dilemma of no wonton wrappers for wontons, we decided to make them ourselves. So when I say we made wonton soup - I mean it. We made wonton soup from scratch.

Tuesday JP and I went into town in the afternoon to shop (and buy more groceries). It was a bit fruitless as neither of us found anything that we wanted. After work his friend Yoshiko came over and we made sushi for dinner. I had somewhat planned for this so I brought a maki rolling mat, miso paste and soup mix, powdered wasabi (instead of the ready made because of the liquids restrictions on the airlines), nori, green tea, and sushi rice seasoning when I was on a layover in Vancouver. Yoshiko was so happy - this stuff is pretty hard to find in Germany, and even if you can find it, it's pretty expensive because it's imported. It was a lot of fun to prep and make everything. I love social cooking. We had some great conversation and Yoshiko was quite impressed with how much Japanese I knew (which is only what I've picked up from watching anime) and how much I knew about Japanese culture. After dinner we played on JP's Wii while trying not to make to much noise because his neighbour is a grouch - hehe.

Wednesday JP came back from an early session at work and made Caprese salad for lunch. OMG the tomatoes and cheese and everything were so fresh and so good. Total foodgasm. Feeling restless, we went out again into town and walked around, going down towards the Dom and crossing the river to enjoy the view from the other side. Then we sat by the river with a couple bottles of Kölsch in hand and just watched the city go by. I haven't had such a relaxed day in a long time.

Thursday morning JP didn't have to work, so we had another lazy morning and eventually made it out of the house to go grocery shopping and pick up some fresh bagels. I went out and did some last minute shopping for Ritter Sport chocolate and in the evening we went out with some friends for cocktails. I've discovered my new favourite drink - strawberry coladas! Mmmm....
Friday we both woke up obscenely early to catch the train to Frankfurt. JP had a teaching conference so he took me to the airport before catching his connecting train, and I hopped on a plane and came home. I tried to switch my flights this weekeng but no one realy wants to give up their long weekend so I was stuck coming back to work. *sigh* So I promised JP that I'd be back later in the week, but for now I'm home.

It's nice to be back - the new computer has arrived and Kevin put together the extension to the desk that will be my area. The kitties are being their naughty, cute selves ^__^" I went over to my parents yesterday for a BBQ, but ending up falling asleep in Tiff's room on the floor and didn't want to get up to eat. Ooops... I spent most of today doing laundry, repacking my suitcase for "layover mode" and I'll be off to San Fran tomorrow.

Germany - Part II will follow next week or so ^__~"

Planning for Germany trip

I've been working non-stop for the past few weeks. I did a flight switch with a girl who really needed to be in Vancouver last weekend, and for my end of things I went to London this weekend. It worked out fabulously since I had some errands to run in SoHo and I wanted to buy more of the fantastic pantyhose from Marks & Spencer (and shrimp chips! Hohoho! Shrimpy chips ^___^").

The first week of the month I was ready to collapse from exhaustion - but no rest for the wicked - only partying! Kimmy's bachelorette was that weekend and we had a great time. Although all this sillyness (combined with the nonsense Kevin's sister went through earlier in the year) and the stuff Kevin has to do for Darryl's weekend just puts me off the wedding thing even more @__@"

We bought a gorgeous office corner unit for the computer from Ikea last week, which then prompted Kevin to buy a new computer. He has bought a new Dell XPS system. My corporate discount probably helped him make that decision LOL The cats are being their usual furry lumps and sleeping all over the desk. Charlie likes to jump up to the very top and sleep with my stuffed animals up there. He has also learned how to open up tupperwear containers so now we can't leave leftovers or anything out on the kitchen counter. That cat is too smart for his own good.

I'm determined to travel with just a carry-on suitcase when I go to Germany next week, which has meant a lot of packing and planning. I tend to overpack and bring all sorts of non-essential but practical things with me (like tape, scissors, etc.) so I'm going to have to par down. It will be an interesting feat ^__^"

Whirlwind weekend in St. John's and New York

I had another pairing that took me all over the place last weekend. I spent my first of 3 layovers in Calgary. I got to the hotel around 3pm, but since my sleep patterns were screwed up I didn't want to crawl into bed right away. I walked around and went shopping, picking up a couple seasons of the X-Files at HMV for $20 each and found the first season of The Lone Gunman too. Walking back to my hotel I was so tired that my eyes were starting to black out on me - not a good sign. After a quick bite to eat I crashed into bed and woke up at something ridiculous like 5am for our check-out.

Day 2 was completely unproductive. Our original flight was canceled so we flew back to Toronto - I watched 21 and slept some more; and then we flew to St. John's. The whole day was just riding on planes, but not working! In Newfoundland I went out with my crew and the crew that had brought us in. We walked around and explored downtown a bit and had dinner on George Street. It was really nice that all of us were able to go out - it doesn't happen often. I found a cool shop in St. John's that sells travel stuff - cute things like what they have on Flight 001. I bought a pair of travel chopsticks (the same ones that are on thinkgeek.com) and a travel pepper grinder.

Our next day was yet another very early morning and we ended up in New York by the early afternoon. My crew-mate Laura and I took a cab into Manhattan and wandered along Fifth Avenue doing some shopping here and there, and then had our nails done down on Third.

It was so nice to have time to actually shop in New York, since the last time I was there was in 2004 and we had an hour to run around before everything closed (it was a Sunday afternoon). I had a great time in St. John's and New York and I can't wait to go back and explore those cities some more!

I've been finishing up my marathon of the X-Files so that hopefully I'll be caught up for the movie release this Friday. Kevin and I are taking the kittens to be neutered tomorrow, and then popping downtown to watch Batman on IMAX at the Paramount (oops! I mean the ScotiaBank whatever....) I've also had this nostalgic feeling for watching the old Sherlock Holmes series staring Jeremy Brett, so I've got those on my computer to watch now too. I've got lots of stuff to keep me busy this week.

In Memoriam

I woke up this afternoon feeling a bit nostalgic so I went looking for old pictures from my high school days and from my first summer in Germany. I had a bit of luck - which was surprising because the last time I went looking I didn't find anything. I noticed that Laura was killing time on Facebook tagging people in my photos, which was a bit of my motivation to find some of those old memories.

I just received a message in my inbox from the older brother of one of my classmates from high school that we tagged into a photo telling me that he passed away this morning. I'm too shocked. I don't know what happened, and it's not my place to ask, but he was my age, living his life and now he's not here anymore. Just like that.

Be at peace Morchel. You are loved and missed.

Jeans & Gelato

I spent the better part of last week curled up in bed trying to sleep off my jet-lag from doing my 2 red-eyes + Hong Kong combination. It worked a little bit but my body is still a bit confused. I thought my weekend in Vancouver had fixed my internal clock, but then I didn't roll out of bed this afternoon until about 2pm... Good grief!

Last Friday I dragged Kevin out to the Eaton Centre because he wanted some new pants, and I needed jeans. We were getting annoyed with each other because our shopping styles when it comes to clothes is so different - so I left him to his own devices at Old Navy and met up with him later. I exchanged my cute Lacoste flats for a smaller size (because there is no way I can wear size 42 - aka US size 10...), and was peeved to find out that the ballerina flats I'd bought at Geox in Hong Kong were on sale at the Eaton Centre for 50% off - but if it's any consolation they didn't have my size. Kevin bought jeans - omg! In all my years of knowing him I've only seen him wear jeans twice! He's a strange creature and he still surprises me. We went out for a quick dinner at the ever crowded Salad King, and discovered a little gelato place had opened near the Dundas subway station. It was good, but not fantastic. Their hazelnut was a bit watery and their Baccio was a bit too chocolately. It made me miss Überlingen's Eis Paradis...

I had a very restful layover in downtown Vancouver over the weekend. The hotel is in an amazing location - seconds from Robson Street. The decor is somewhat hideous - with lime green carpet and sunshine yellow walls but it has every amenity I could ask for. Give me a room that has a fridge and a microwave and I am a happy camper. I walked around downtown a bit (Yay! Sale at Lululemon!), made some YVR phone calls, gave myself a pedicure while watching TV and called it an early night. In the morning I heard my cellphone go off and I quite literally jumped up and across the massive bed to hunt for where I'd left the phone the night before LOL A couple of my friends had come in on an early morning flight for their layover so I went out for breakfast with Mike. He was VERY hungry... we inhaled our savoury crèpes, and then he bought a couple slices of pizza and he inhaled those too... Then we had gelato at Mondo Gelato 0__0"

I was happy to be home with my kittens again. I get so detached from them when I'm gone for more than a couple of days. I'm also the one responsible for trimming their claws since Kevin never seems to do it. We never had to trim Timmy's claws - he was always able to take care of this matter himself. Bubba doesn't offer much resistance; I love how complacent and squishy he is. Charlie, on the other hand, is a squirmy, wiggly handful. I try to get him when he's sleeping but I can never get more than 3 or 4 of his claws at a time before he'll wriggle away and hide his paws from me.

Kevin and I watched Batman: Gotham Night last night and it has me excited about the upcoming movie. It's like the Animatrix, only for the Batman franchise and I thought it was very well done. I think I need to re-watch Batman Begins before the new movie releases.

Working through the holiday weekend

Well, Kevin completed the computer dump and we are slowly reinstalling everything. The good news is that the CD burner works (thank you Roland!!), but now I don't have Photoshop installed yet, and my iTunes is messed up because the program is on the C: drive and all my music files are on the D: drive @__@" It will be a slow process....

I finally saw Prince Caspian last week. Mmmm... Ben Barnes... Not sure I like the weird Telemarine accent he put on, but the film was decent. It was a lot more to look at than the old BBC specials.

I did 2 back-to-back red-eye turns last week, got home Saturday morning and then left for Hong Kong on Sunday morning. Way to screw up my sleeping patterns, eh? The HK pairing was great - I worked with an awesome crew and had a nice, productive layover. I finally found more of the blue galley gloves that I've been hunting for - I went into about 5 Daiso's in Tokyo and couldn't find them. Go figure that I'd find an abundance of them in HK. The weather over there this time was beautiful - the sky was so clear and we could actually see across the harbour! That is so rare, and of course my camera has to be MIA (Kev's mom borrowed it). I went out for dim-sum with my aunt and then did some shopping in the morning before getting picked-up to go to the airport.

When I got back the family went out for dinner at that place mom likes so much. It was nice to come home and just relax. I slept almost all day yesterday, with the cats sharing the bed with me :)

Kevin has me marathoning Star Wars (ep. IV-VI) right now since I've never actually seen episodes V & VI...